Source: A 52-year-old bicyclist died Thursday after he was hit by a truck driven by a 15-year-old girl in North Kohala, Hawaii Island firefighters said. Firefighters were sent to Akoni Pule Highway near the 19-mile marker about 1:15 p.m. and found the cyclist lying on the roadside, where he died, firefighters said. The girl and a 46-year-old woman who was also in the truck were sitting on the roadside. Firefighters said the man was heading toward North Kohala town when the 2003 Nissan truck hit him. Firefighters took the occupants of the truck to Kohala Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police were investigating, firefighters said. Follow up Source: Big Island authorities have identified the man killed in a crash on Akoni Pule highway Thursday. Police say Jessie Taylor, 52, was riding his bike when he was hit from behind by a Nissan truck. Taylor was part of a cycling group that was doing a four-day ride around the island. A longtime friend of the Kailua-Kona man says he was riding a couple miles in front of Taylor when he heard about the fatal accident. "The interesting thing was that recently he said, 'If I ever have to die, I want to die riding,'" said Franz Weber, who was riding down to Hawi when the accident happened. "It was his passion. It was the perfect way to go." Police say the driver of the truck was a 16-year-old girl, who was driving with her mother. Hawaii News Now has learned she was driving with a learner's permit. The teenager told police she fell asleep at the wheel, but the crash is under investigation.